Mike McGinn Is Seattle's Next Mayor

Related Content

It's official: This adorable little tyke just got an early Christmas present. More details from the Joe Mallahan concession speech to come.

Details from Laura Onstot, at Mallahan's final stand:

Mallahan seemed as disappointed in losing as he was excited about being mayor in the first place; in other words, not very.

In his cramped campaign headquarters on Eastlake, television reporters breaking a sweat in their suits, Mallahan accepted defeat. "The voters of Seattle responded to Mike's message," he told the cameras.

But anyone who's been following this election could easily disagree with that assessment. After all, McGinn's message was mostly that he would try to stop the planned tunnel replacement of the Alaska Way Viaduct. But then he dropped that message which left us with.... not much if you're someone who doesn't read position papers (which most of us don't.)

It's probably more a testament to Mallahan's lack of message. In the primary, he went after Nickels' jugular and successfully took hold (snowstorm, snowstorm, snowstorm). But without Nickels in the race, criticism of how the city had been handled in the past didn't make sense any more.

And as Mallahan started culling support from former Nickels supporters like the Downtown Seattle Association, it became even harder to see what message he might still have. "I think a lot of people came to see me as a conservative business person," he says.

Mallahan insists that characterization isn't true. Though he dodged a reporter's question about any future runs for political office to say that for now, "I'm going to go back and work for the phone company (T-Mobile)."

As bloggers fired off updates and camera operators wrapped up their cords, Mallahan campaign manager Charla Neuman came out to deal with any follow-up questions. "Good luck," one reporter told her as they wrapped up.

Neuman thanked him but pointed out: "I don't need it now."

Nope, but McGinn, about to become the very green mayor of a major metropolitan city, sure does.